


Stronger Than a Thousand

by ItsAight



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: All Hail Badass Eren, Assassin Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Badass Eren Yeager, Canonical Character Death, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating will change, Scientist Hange Zoë, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 05:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6181258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsAight/pseuds/ItsAight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger honestly has no idea what's going on. He doesn't remember much besides his twelve years at "The Lab". When he finally escapes along with a handful of others, he's diving headfirst into the unknown. </p>
<p>Levi Ackerman wants to know what the fuck is going on. He's an assassin in hiding, not a god damn babysitter after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**[CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]**

**UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL WHO CONTINUE TO READ THE FOLLOWING UNDISCLOSED TEXT WILL SUFFER SEVERE PUNISHMENT**

**SEPTEMBER 17 TH, 2030**

 

KING G. JAEGER,

 

 

THE EXPERIMENTATION WITH **_PATIENT-A001_** HAS SUCCEEDED.

IT NOW RESTS IN A MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA WITH STABLE HEALTH. LEVEL TWO WILL COMMENCE ON **_SEPTEMBER 19 TH, 2030_**. THIS WILL ENTAIL THE STUDY AND OBSERVATION OF THE CAPABILITES AND LIMITATIONS OF **_PATIENT-A001_**. NO IMPROVEMENT WITH CONTROL OVER ABILITIES.

 

THE EXPERIMENTATION WITH **_PATIENT-A002_**  HAS SUCCEEDED. IT NOW RESTS IN A MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA WITH UNSTABLE VITALS. LEVEL TWO HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE UNTIL IT HAS RECOVERED. IF UNSTABLE BY **_OCTOBER 1 ST, 2030_** _, **PATIENT-A002**_ WILL BE EXTERMINATED. NO IMPROVEMENT WITH CONTROL OVER ABILITIES.

 

THE EXPERIMENTATION WITH **_PATIENT-A003_**  HAS FAILED. EXECUTION DATE HAS BEEN FINALIZED FOR **_OCTOBER 2 ND, 2030_**. TEST SUBJECT'S BODY RESISTS ANY CONTENTS OF **VIAL3.** SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDE SEVERE SEIZURE-LIKE SPASMS WHEN INJECTED. NO PHYSICAL OR MENTAL ABILITIES HAVE ADVANCED OR IMPROVED. NO NEW ABILITIES PRESENT.

           

THE EXPERIMENTATION WITH **_PATIENT-A004_**  HAS SUCCEEDED. SUBJECT HAS SHOWN EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT OF IMPROVEMENT IN PHYSICAL POWER. MENTAL STRENGTH HAS NOT ADVANCED WHATSOEVER. **_VIAL5_**  WILL BE USED ON **_SEPTEMBER 20 TH, 2030. _** HOWEVER, IF TESTS DO NOT SUCCEED SUBJECT WILL BE EXTERMINATED. NO IMPROVEMENT WITH CONTROL OVER ABILITIES.

 

THE EXPERIMENTATION WITH **_PATIENT-A005_** HAS SUCCEEDED. SUBJECT RESTS IN MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA, READY FOR **_VIAL2._**  EXPERIMENTATION WILL CONTINUE **_SEPTEMBER 18 TH,2010._** SLIGHT ADVANCE IN MENTAL CAPACITY HAS SHOWN. IMPROVEMENT WITH **_PATIENT-A005_** IS SLOW. NO IMPROVEMENT WITH CONTROL OVER ABILITIES.

 

EXPERIMENTS WITH **_PATIENTS-A006-010_   **WILL START **_OCTOBER 4 TH, 2030.  _**

 

**H. ZOE**


	2. Chapter 1. Freedom at Last

           The moist dirt squished underneath my quick, bare feet. The anxious shouts and shrill alarms far behind me. At this I felt, despite the worry of capture, peace. The peace of freedom, a freedom that didn't entail chains and syringes. I could feel it, the renewed power. I felt the most powerful strength manifest in me. Freedom. As I ran, I could practically feel freedom's wings spread. And despite everything, no,  _because_  of everything I grinned. I felt the tears prick the corners of my eyes and my dry lips crack from the tension. I was truly free.

            I knew I wasn't the only one. Four others that were held captive in the same facility have achieved the same freedom as me. Not one of us went together, we strategically ran in different directions. I found myself missing them, even if I knew close to zero about them. Out of the fifty patients, only us five were held on the same floor. We ate together, showered together, trained in close proximity as well. The only thing that held us apart were the steel walls guarded by armed staff during Sessions. During our breaks in which we ate and rested, we were all held in a single heavily guarded room where we sat at different benches. Far from touch, far from words. I never was able to speak to them, I never met them before I was taken. In fact, the only knowledge I held of them were their first names. Annie. Bertolt. Reiner. Ymir. I didn't know which was which, but I knew my own. Eren. Patient-A001. Our last names weren't disclosed to us, which now made much more sense than not. Despite the fact these names held no identity, I held onto them as they were the only things I could hold onto. I could only hope we'd all be okay.

            I didn't turn back when I left. I ran and I didn't check to see if the guards were still chasing, I didn't check to see the scientists, or even the building. I was ready to leave it behind. First, though, I had to find them. The four others that ran with me. I had to ask myself, did they feel the same feeling I felt? The rejuvenating energy, the lack of the grogginess that the facility seemed to paint over everyone? The lightness of their wrists and ankles? Or could they smell the freshness the lab lacked, or could they feel the excitement at the cloudless sky they missed? Or feel the warmth of the sun that had been replaced by artificial light? Or did they feel the weight of captivity leave their shoulders? I did. And I loved it.

            For ages, I was just passing trees. There was no distinct path, so I was left to go about it my way. I didn't go in one straight line, I zigzagged around trees, going diagonally before going straight again. Going right, left, straight, left, straight, left. I curved before going diagonal again. Unpredictable. Untouchable. Just how I liked it. After another few minutes, I could feel a slight twinge in my legs due to my relentless speed. I was no idiot, I've felt this pain many times in the facility. Everyone was subject to fatigue, tested on or not. I continued to run, but instead of the fast sprint, I fell into a brisk jog.

            After what felt like hours of trees, I had slowed to a leisure walk. I admired the trees that bared dark leaves and the green grass that seemed so unfamiliar. The wet rain cooled my feet as I took each step. I walked, losing myself in my head. I snapped out of my daydream once the lack of trees were apparent. A clearing. A small one; no trees, just patches of grass. I looked up, without the shadow of trees. My eyes widened at the dark sky and bright stars.

_Magnificent._

            Gorgeous. The moon shined, its light rivaled the dark sky, creating a delightful art piece of dark blue and purple hues. As intrigued as I was, I could feel the fatigue tug on my eyelids, and the slow trudge of my walk wasn't lying. I was tired and thirsty, hunger brought a throb to my head and stomach. As much as I felt satisfied due to the freedom, I missed the glass of water I was constantly granted when asked for. The food that was always on my dish. Though, I guessed that's what happened when you leave your only shelter, but I couldn't stay. Now I had to fend for myself. Instead of dwelling on the fact that I lacked the necessary supplies to survive, I sat and rested my back on the hard trunk of a tree. I brought my knees to my chest and let the back of my head lightly hit the tree. I sighed at the beauty of the night sky. A sky in which I looked forward to seeing again.

           

 

             I felt a nudge at my side. The small contact was enough to wake me from my light sleep. I didn't open my eyes, instead I waited. It was risky, but I didn't change my mind. This time, instead of the small nudge, I feel a hand grip my shoulder and soon it was shaking me. Instinctively, I quickly grabbed the wrist and shoved it away, before I even thought open my eyes. When I do, I meet a tall figure gripping their wrist. My eyes trail from the recognizable blue tunic, to the familiar scars on the pasty skin of their neck. I shared the same ones. My eyes drifted up to a pained, but angry face, a noticeably feminine one. Her brown hair had been cut into a short style very similar to my own. A long, jagged scar rips down from her hairline and through her eyebrow. Her brown eyes pierced into mine, holding anger but relief.

            "Thank God, I finally found one of you fuckers." Out of all the sentences I would expect, it wouldn't have been that one. Then again, I wasn't expecting to find one of the others this soon either. Despite my uncertainty, I was glad that I wasn't going to have to deal with this alone any longer. By the looks of it, the girl thought the same.

            "Can you talk?" she asked after a moment of silence, her voice filled with sarcasm. "It would suck for the first person I find was mute." Reasonably, I grew angry. A scowl formed on my face; the corners of my lips curved down, my eyes narrowed, my brows furrowed. Who the hell did she think she was? Talking about it like it was a damn joke?

            "Do you think they would've kept me alive if I was mute?" I spat at her. It was no secret. During many of my training or experimentation sessions, I would have listened in on any of the conversations between the scientists. It was the source of the minuscule amount of information I owned. The first time I heard of these executions was in one of my first examinations. They picked and prodded at me joking around, practically gambling on if I was to be sent off or not. I felt utter disgust roll through me as I remembered the atrocities of that facility. It didn't stop there. Glaring up at her, I stood. Fully standing, I was a few inches shorter than her strangely long height. She glared back down, still cradling her wrist. My eyes caught it, my anger distinguished almost immediately.

            "Sorry about your wrist," I whispered, stepping back. She eyed me skeptically before she relaxed her stance from the rigid position it once was. We stood in an uncomfortable silence for a bit before I grew the courage to open my mouth.

            "What's your name?" I asked hesitantly.

            "Ymir," she answered simply. I sighed in relief from hearing the familiar name even though we shared similar uniform. Another question popped into my mind and, before I could think any better of it, I spat it out.

            "What was your Identity Code?" I asked, instantly regretting my words. Identity Codes were used for the specific reason of summons or announcements. These announcements included the public calling of who was to be executed, who was to be going to a different stage of testing, and so on. It was inconsiderate for me to ask and I certainly wouldn't have answered it if I was the one in question. I would have felt angry, honestly. It was extremely rude, but to my shock Ymir didn't seem bothered by it too much. Yet, I could still spot the bit of irritation and sorry hidden in her brown eyes.

            "A005," she answered, cold and distant. Our eyes met and I couldn't bare looking at that depressingly empty stare. I quickly removed my gaze from her, fixating it on a tree instead. I searched for anyway to break the thick tension.

            "Have you any idea where the others may be?" I asked, anxious from the thought of her reaction. You couldn't exactly blame me. Especially with the outcome of the dialogue we've shared already.

            "Definitely," she sneered, "Like I've drawn a fucking map of the place." She forcefully exhaled out of her nose, which grated on my nerves. She crossed her arms, and soon she looked back at me. She immediately hardened her stare, a displeased look crossed her features. I frowned in return.

            "We should start walking, we aren't going anywhere by just standing here," she said. "But first, your name?"

            "Eren," I answered. Without any response besides a small nod, she walked off, to which I angrily followed. I didn't have a particularly good reason, but any interactions with her continued to annoy me. Instead of opening my mouth to complain, I clamped my lips together. Which was a much better idea than making enemies with a potential ally. An ally I needed to be able to communicate with. Properly.

            We walked, with no idea what direction we were going in. At least I didn't. We could have been heading straight back to the facility for all I knew. The only thing that could keep me moving was the my will. The will to survive. I, at least, would be holding on to it.

            We traveled wordlessly, tensely walking side by side. She kept her eyes forward while I continued to admire the nature around us. It didn't take too long for us to start seeing the inhabitants of the wilderness. I felt myself relax and feel pure awe at what I saw. They were just small animals that scurried around and up trees, darted across my feet, and flew over my head. I was fascinated by the life around us, yet Ymir looked almost bored. I couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at her impassiveness. This was the first time we've seen something like this, shouldn't she feel at least a little giddy?

_Unless it wasn't her first time seeing this?_

            I shook the thought out of my mind, trying desperately to keep my mind clear. The questions were there, but I had no will to ask them. How was I going to ask them? How could I even bring up a topic like that? Instead, I continued to walk with slightly more edge. I noticed the amount of trees diminish, replaced by weeds and more grass. In result, the sun directly shun on me, without being filtered by the leaves. It grew increasingly hot. Pain hit my stomach and head from hunger, and the back of my neck where the sun shun its light. The lack of water and food drug me down. I wasn't used to this withdrawal, and just suddenly going on some sort of fast takes a toll on the body. I felt my skin sting from the light, not being accustomed to the sun at all.

              Gratefully, Ymir had slowed considerably more than I. I felt a little less self conscious about my strength. This thought led me to wonder how the others were doing. To my knowledge, there were three others. One or two of which were to be killed, I wasn't very sure. I was looking forward to meeting them. Hopefully they wouldn't frustrate me as much as Ymir seemed to.

            Gradually, the sun seemed to increase its shine causing a stinging pain to surface on my skin. My legs felt weaker as time passed; my entire body ached. Ymir looked even worse than I felt. I felt pretty bad for not giving her, or myself, a break. It was up to her, I wouldn't disagree if it came down to it. Our walk had reduced to a dragging trudge. I took this as a time to fully assess our surroundings. To my shock, there weren't any trees. I searched for any plant in sight, but all that was visible were weeds and grass. We were completely exposed in broad daylight and it bothered me. Paranoid, my eyes darted around in attempt to look at everything and anything at the same time. I then felt the pressure of eyes hitting my back. We were being watched.

            "Ymir," I whispered, lightly swatting her arm. I looked at her just as her face slowly turned my way. She looked exhausted. Dirt stained her face and her sweat smeared it. Dark bags hung underneath her eyes which seemed to drag down her upper eyelid. I felt guilty for letting her carry on for this long, but now there was no time for rest.

            "Ymir," I repeated, an edge to my voice. "Do you think you can handle running?" She only shook her head. Slowly to the right, then to the left. My apprehension heightened, my hands twitched. I wasn't sure if I could run with her added weight. I ushered her to walk slightly faster, but I couldn't push her to her limit. Not now. I looked behind me, something I haven't had to do since I escaped. Nothing. Yet, I could still feel the eyes scrutinizing my every move. I loathed this feeling of weakness, knowing that I didn't have the upper hand. The fatigue I felt before had been completely replaced with unease. I didn't like the situation I was in at all. My instinct told me to run, and to run fast. I prepared to do so, but I didn't do it just yet. I needed a reason. That's when I was given what I asked for.

            "PATIENT-A001 AND PATIENT-A005 HALT YOUR MOVEMENTS OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!" Ymir and I froze in our spots. My heart practically stopped and I couldn't breathe. It was dead silent once again. My head whipped towards Ymir, who looked shockingly  _scared_. I my eyes searched for the source of the voice, trying to find where to run away from. My breath grew faster and my heart beat wildly in my chest. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I quickly grabbed Ymir and ushered her on to my back. She was barely able to wrap her arms around my neck before I started sprinting. Despite the added weight, I felt lighter than a feather. The soreness of my muscles seemed to have disappeared and I felt as if I could run for miles.

            "PATIENT-A001 AND PATIENT-A005 HALT YOUR MOVEMENTS OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!" The booming voice sounded more distant and I could tell it was slightly farther away. This was good, but we were still exposed, and I knew they were still watching me.

             _But could they catch me?_

I smirked at the challenge and increased my speed. The air resisting my fast movement whipped at my skin, cooling me down and adding to my excitement. Despite the situation I was in, I felt amazing. That's when I heard and felt something whiz right past my right ear. My eyes widened, and I looked over mine and Ymir's shoulders. I was faced with a large line-up of armed guards, each recognizable in their forest green bullet-proof uniforms. All of them adorned scarily large guns, and I knew exactly what type of ammunition they held.

             _Tranquilizers._

One hit from one of these chemically processed darts and you're done for. I easily recalled my first slip up, and I wasn't ready to fail again. I ground my teeth together and changed my motion. The probability of being shot, with that much manpower against me, was practically one hundred percent. I, guiltily, hoped Ymir would take most of the hits. I randomly changed my direction, exactly how I had done in the forest. I ducked and jumped and spun around, hoping to dodge any darts coming my way. The range of these guns weren't that long, and I was a reasonable distance away. I tried to pick up my speed, which nearly caused me to stumble. I knew I was going fast, extraordinarily fast. The blur of my limbs underneath me was a telltale sign.  I felt Ymir go limp, her upper body slowly started to fall backwards. I hastily bent forward and gripped her thighs with more force.

_Damn!_

I looked behind me. The darts were falling short, which was very fortunate, but the guards were advancing. I was close, I couldn't afford to get shot now. If it happened, I didn't know what would become of Ymir and I. If I failed it would be the downfall of not only I, but of another victim. I was to protect not just my own, but another life. With this thought in mind, the determination that drove me to leave in the first place filled my system. All I had to do was outrun them, it wasn't a problem before, so I could it now. With all the strength I could muster, which wasn't as much as I hoped, I ran. The thought of survival overpowered all my senses, clouding my mind and judgment. And I found that I thrived in it. My senses were doused; hazy. Yet, I could still feel that overwhelming power surging through me. I was drunk on it.

            And I loved it. I felt my lips curl into a satisfied smile. I was satisfied. I was so lost in the sensation that I hadn't notice how far we had gotten. I slowed, my neck stretched to see behind me. Nothing but dirt and patches of grass for miles. Right after my sigh of relief, pounds of fatigue and pain dropped onto my shoulders. I struggled to keep upright, my legs shook and immense pain shot up my back. I struggled to lightly put Ymir down.

            The heat of the sun still hit my back, which led me to believe I hadn't run for too long. Despite the time of day, I felt tired. The pressing need to sleep pulled on my eyes, and all I wanted to do was oblige. My thighs and calves ached, obviously needing rested. I looked up at the sun with my eyes half closed, and prayed to whoever was up there to keep myself and Ymir safe. I couldn't carry on for now. I let my eyelids drift together, one thought filled my mind as my consciousness left.

            _Freedom at last._

 


End file.
